September 2019 the Newsletter of the Nova Scotia Stamp Club Volume 49, Issue 480

TheThe NovaNova ScotiaScotia PostPost

September 2019 The Newsletter of the Nova Scotia Stamp Club Volume 49, Issue 480

UP and COMING SS NERISSA—THE D AY HER L UCK R AN O UT by Glenna Metchette

September 7 BRUNPEX (Editor’s note: September 3rd is the day designated by the Government of Canada to acknowledge RC Legion, 100 War Veterans the wartime contributions of Merchant Navy veterans) Ave, Moncton NB 10 am - 4 pm The SS Nerissa (Figure 1), launched in Port Glasgow, Scotland in 1926, was a pas- senger and cargo steamer associated with the maritime history of Nova Scotia and September 10 Club Meeting Newfoundland. She carried passengers on the New York-Halifax-St. John’s route Annual Meeting until 1931 and then New York-Bermuda/West Indies route before she was modified Sept. 20-21 NOVApex 2019 as a troop transport in July 1940. E. Dartmouth Community Centre In 1940, she was considered the “lucky ship” after one of a group of 28 children being evacuated from Britain to Canada on the SS City of Benares was suspected of Sept 19 Friends of Philately having chicken pox. The group was detained for 24 hours, another group left in its October 12 Moncton Stamp Fair place, and they left aboard the SS Nerissa instead. Four days later, the City of RC Legion, 100 War Veterans Benares was torpedoed with the loss of 255 passengers, including 84 children. Ave, Moncton NB 10 am - 4 pm. The Nerissa continued to make 39 wartime voyages between the Maritimes and Travelling? Check out the time Great Britain without mishap; however, her luck ran out on the 30 April 1941 when and place of other shows at she was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-552. She began her 40th war- www.rpsc.org/shows.html or time crossing on 21 April 1941 from the port of Halifax, NS, with 306 crew and passengers aboard - carrying 145 Canadian servicemen along with RAF and Norwegian www.csdaonline.com/shows Army Air Service personnel, Northern Electric technicians, members of the press, and a dozen civilians that included a couple and their three young children. She sailed as part of a Britain-bound convoy HX 122 but Figure 1 after 12 hours continued on alone for a stopover in St. John’s. A convoy’s speed, as it zigzagged its way along, was restricted to that of the slowest ship and this convoy slogged its way at 5-6 knots. As a troopship, Nerissa made all her voyages unaccompa- nied (although this seems controversial) because her maximum speed of 14 knots under loaded conditions was considered capable of out running enemy U-boats. Arriving at St. John’s Newfound- land on April 23rd, Captain Gilbert Watson received orders to sail for Liverpool, Britain. Approaching the Irish coast on the night of April 30th, a Hudson patrol aircraft of Royal Navy Coastal Command signaled that the area was clear of U-boats. At 11:30 p.m., 200 miles from her des- tination, a torpedo struck her amidships. All activity ceased. Power was off. Es- caping steam hissed. She listed badly to starboard. As lifeboats were being lowered in the dark, two additional torpedoes split the ship in half and the ship went to the bottom in less than four minutes from the first attack, carrying 207 souls, including the Captain who stood on the bow and yelled to his men in the water, “Good luck boys.” In that short time the radio operator, unknown to history, sent an S.O.S. with the ship’s position. The survivors spent a harrowing night in the near-freezing At- lantic and were first hand witnesses to the effects of shock and hypothermia as man after man slipped beneath the surface. Following a circling of a British Blenheim aircraft, HMS Veteran and HMS Hunter were first on the scene at 7:50 a.m. While Hunter circled the area Veteran picked up the survivors. The number of survivors form reports varies form 76 to 91, however, it was great loss of Canadain Service men. The survivors were spared no effort in hospitality - provided with food, ciga- rettes and rum. They were transferred to the corvette HMS Kingcup at Lough Foyle Figure 2 Continued Page 2 The Nova Scotia Post September 2019 Page 2

SS N ERISSA CONTINUED June 2003, the Government of Canada designated September 3rd of each year as a day to acknowledge the contribution of and taken upriver to Londonderry, Ireland to hospitals. Merchant Navy Veterans. Lt. Erich Topp (Figure 2), Captain of U-552, survived the war, James J. Brown and Brian G. Redding wrote a poem in honour and is acknowledged as the third top scoring U-boat commander and remembrance of the men and women who lost their lives having sunk 34 Allied merchant ships with a gross displacement on the SS Nerissa on April 30, 1941. It begins: of 193,684 tons Because he served honourably as a naval military commander and never had any affiliation with the Nazi No poppies wave above our heads Party, he rejoined the West German Navy in 1958 and retired as a Or mark the place where we must sleep Rear Admiral. He later served in the Pentagon as a naval repre- Below the oceans wild and wide sentative for the West German government. To help document Our resting place is in the deep. the sinking of the Nerissa , he related that his submarine had been Two 1930’s Paquebot Covers “Posted On The High Seas” heavily damaged during an earlier depth charge attack. He was aboard S.S. Nerissa (Figures 4 and 5) nursing his U-boat back to their base in occupied France when they came upon Mail posted at sea is generally held by the ship’s purser or Figure 3 the Nerissa . He was surprised to find postal officer (if it has one) until the next port with postal fa- her with her lights on and not running a cilities is reached. All mail received during the voyage is de- zigzag course. Concerned for the safety livered to the post office serving the port where it is then of his own crew, he continued their jour- marked “Paquebot,” French for “Packet Boat,” or the equiva- ney to France because his U-boat was lent and is postmarked by the post office and entered into the too damaged to take on survivors. mainstream for delivery. Over time paquebot mail came to mean any mail received at sea. Under UPU regulations, mail The Halifax Memorial in Point Pleasant posted at sea should be franked with postage stamps of the Park (Figure 3) is one of the few tangible country under which the vessel is flagged. If the vessel is in reminders of the men who died at sea. It was erected by the port when the mail is turned in, it should be franked with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and was unveiled on 11 stamps of the country in whose waters the vessel is located. November 1967. The large granite monument presents a 12 m Mail posted aboard often receives a ship’s hand-stamp on the high “Cross of Sacrifice”, clearly visible to all ships approaching envelope. Halifax. The large podium bears 23 bronze panels inscribed with the names of over 3,000 Canadian men and women who were buried at sea. On 19

The Nova Scotia Post is a publication of the Nova Scotia Stamp Club Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Marty Zelenietz - Editor Jeff Parks - Layout

http://www.nsstampclub.ca/ [email protected] Figure 4 Nova Scotia Stamp Club meets at 7:30 p.m. on every second Tuesday of the month (except July and August) at the Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer Street, Halifax, N.S. The club publishes a monthly newsletter (except summer) which is released on the first week of the month. Membership is C$15 per person (C$20 US, C$25 International) or C$22.50 per couple. Send new membership applicatons to… NS Stamp Club c/o Jeff Parks 102 Birch Bear Run, Lewis Lake, NS B3Z 4B8 Membership renewals are sent to... NS Stamp Club c/o John Harvey 46 Farquharson St, Dartmouth, NS B2W 4A8 Figure 5 The Nova Scotia Post Volume 49 No 480 Page 3

DLO H ANDSTAMPS #43 by Gary Steele

On July 22, 1947 the Nascopie, a Hudson’s Bay Co. supply ship that made annual trips into the Hudson Strait and the Eastern Artic struck an uncharted reef at the entrance of Cape Dorset harbor. When the ship became the R. M. S. Nascopie it had a designated travelling post office with an offi- cial postmaster. Much of the mail contents were recovered including submerged mail. Envelopes recovered were dried out with an imprint placed on each cover SALVED FROM THE SEA and processed by the Dead Letter Office in Winni- peg. For this particular item two ‘Found damaged, torn or open and officially repaired’ labels were at- tached on the back with a Winnipeg DLO handstamp #5 tying them to cover. Of particular note; all the Winnipeg DLO #5 hand- stamps reported have the same date of Aug 8 1947, very few of these have been reported to Brian Plain unfortunately so it is hard to tell how many exist. The info on this handstamp is 37mm in diameter, sans-serif except for ‘D. L. O.’ letters, 1 st line mixed, 2nd line caps, with the ‘ 5’quite large at 5mm. A simi- lar handstamp exists with the number ‘2’ clerk handstamp. Thanks to Ian Mowat, Eastern Arctic Mails 1876 to 1963, BNAPS Exhibit Series No. 5, April 1997 and Andrew Liptak’s Postal History Corner Blog for info on the Eastern Arctic mails.

CENSORED N AVAL C OVER - W ORLD W AR I by Michael Peach Herbert Edgar Weston was one of the leading figures in philately in Great Britain in the first few decades of the last century. He traded using the name Victor Marsh. Among other things he was a major dealer in covers with cut-outs to pay the postage. Unused stamps on postal stationery could be cut out and used for postage. During the first World War efforts were made to conceal the date of mailing and the location of the fleet, and the Post Office used seven- or eight-line barred cancella- tions on mail from the fleet. The cover shown was self-addressed to Edgar Weston in London, and has two Edward VII green half penny stamps cut put from postcards for the inland postage. He prepared bundles of such covers and sent them to Lt. Commander R.L. Clayton, an officer on aboard the H.M.S. Queen Mary for mailing. The cover, still sealed with no content, was passed by a naval censor. On the back there is a date stamp 8 May 1916. This is probably one of the last covers mailed from H.M.S. Queen Mary, as it was sunk at the battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916, and Lt. Com- mander Clayton lost his life. The Nova Scotia Post Page 4

CLUB NEWS The first meeting of the new season will be on 10 September, 20F ‘Montagne et arbres” de 1947 also took home the Best 7:30, at the Museum on Summer Street. In addition to being Single Frame Award sponsored by Canadian Stamp News. the Annual General Meeting and election of new officers John Hall’s The Canadian Fiscal War Tax Stamps of World (volunteers always welcome), we will also be hearing about War One received a Gold Award, and Philatelic Specialists the new Royal awards from John Hall. This year, we will try Society of Canada Specialization Medal. Doreen Fitzgerald an experiment and have “themed” Show and Tell sessions. also brought home a Gold Award, and the New Zealand The theme for September is “My Summer Find.” Bring in Award, for The Story of Kaulbach Island Local Carriage Ser- and share your most notable philatelic find of the summer. vice . Garnering a Large Vermeil was Michael Mather’s Lon- For this inaugural themed Show and Tell, the out-going Presi- don Cancels – Development During the Victorian Period . dent will pass judgement and announce the President’s Congratulations to all on a job well done! Choice award (a bottle of wine he is donating). His word is The following new membership applications have been re- final, and he can’t choose himself! Other themes Show and ceived and approved: 1084 Rodney Caley, 1085 Kerry Tell sessions planned include “Spooky Philately and Weird DeLorey, 1086 Anne Marie Brown, 1087 Jim Stewart. Collecting Coincidences” (October), and “Military Philately” (November). Novapex 2019 is right around the corner. It will be held 20 & 21 September at the East Dartmouth Community Centre on Caledonia Road. We are experimenting this year with having a Friday/Saturday two day regional show, rather than Satur- day/Sunday. We’ll see how it works out. Also, no awards banquet this year: munchies will be available at the awards presentation immediately following the show. Thanks to Joanne Hodder and her crew of volunteers for their work on the show. Club members did us proud at the Royal, held in Mississauga in late June (see photo). Large Golds were awarded to Brainard Fitzgerald and to J.J. Tillard. Brainard’s exhibit, Royal Visit to Canada 1951 , also received the American Philatelic Society Award of Excellence, 1940 to 1980; the American Topical Association Second Award; and the Best BNA Exhibit Award. J.J.’s exhbit St. Pierre et Miquelon, le

NOVA S COTIA S TAMP C LUB C ENTENARY NOVA PEX 2019 by Marty Zelenietz The NS Stamp Club will be hosting a Regional Stamp For the Club’s Exhibition and Bourse at the East Dartmouth Commu- 75th anniversary in 1997, J. Doug Al- nity Centre, 50 Caledonia Road, Dartmouth on Friday len and I designed and Saturday September 20 and 21, 2019. Details will a souvenir pin to follow as they are made available. If you are interested mark the occasion. in volunteering please contact Joanne Hodder, Novapex It was also a fund- 2019 Chair at [email protected] raiser for the Club, and the pins sold www.nsstampclub.ca/novapex19.htm out (except for a few that we kept as gifts for visitors !!!! DUES !!! and speakers). Based on the 1860 Yes folks, it is that time of year again. Pay now and Nova Scotia issue, avoid the rush. Pay for several years...! John Harvey the pin later served will collect dues at the June meeting for 2019-2020 or as the model for you can send a cheque to NS Stamp Club, c/o John our current Club award pins. Harvey, 46 Farquharson St., Dartmouth, NS, B2W 4A8.